..the kernel is version 2.6.31.6 which adds new wireless network possibilities along with greater speed and stability....

RTL8187 usb wifi card still isn't working properly YET,once getting connected to wifi router ,only last about half minute or so internet dropped...the old daunting persistant symdrome of rtl8187..i was expecting kernel 2.6.31.6 would cure rtl8187's abnomalities, as far as my current testing goes, seemingly no hope yet...Any command to fix it up ?as i need to access internet over the weekend..

I'm really looking forward to trying VL6 SOHO. I downloaded the beta ISOs and burned them to CD. First I tried the graphical installer but shortly into the installation the monitor went black with a Not Optimum ModeRecommended Mode: 1280x1024 60 Hz

The keyboard was not responsive and I had to turn the computer off with its power button. The monitor is a 19" LCD with 1280x1024 resolution that's supposed to use 60 Hz, as is generally the case with LCDs. I tried selecting other resolutions at the screen at the beginning of the installation, but I got the same message regardless of what I chose, including the Auto choice.

I'm not sure I'm remembering right, but when I chose 800x600, after Searching for installable media I got:The application has received an unexpected error and must abort.[21]Out of boundsMdlMain ? 0

I couldn't find an md5sum, so maybe I got a bad download. However, just in case, I again downloaded the first CD ISO, which had the same byte count as my first download of the ISO. I tried the vinstall-iso again and got the same results and error message (cannot decompress initrd.img from ISO-file).

So I can't install the beta. I saw a report in the bug tracker that described the same results with the last alpha.

Are there solutions for my problem? By the way, I also tried the CD on another computer to see if the problem was with the first computer, but I got the same results. GUI installation gave me the Not Optimum Mode message requiring a hardware power-off and a text installation soon got the same kernel panic with the same error message.--GrannyGeek

try vlwifi which will give you support with the windows drivers over ndiswrapper.

Non,it functions almost same as wicd, tried Vlwifi on rtl8187 usb wifi, internet connection only lasts half minutes or so then lost in domaint......I 'm sure the syndrome is related to kernel, expecting VL's fixing kernel over the weekend....tried mandriva 2010 which's kernel 2.6.31 as well, rtl 8187 usb also fell into same symdrome(but there's a way to workaround which's booting into 2009.1 's kernel 2.6.29),........

pls. Try not burnning 2 CDs of soho b1 and install by grub from ISOs,just draged "B1 iso" to (hd0,0)and decompressed "isolinux" in iso(first cd) to "/bootvl6sohob1"(open all sub directories and copy contents all under /bootvl6sohob1),use GRUB to boot into installation:--------------------------------root (hd0,0)kernel /bootvl6sohob1/sata root=/dev/ram rwinitrd /bootvl6sohob1/init.gz--------------------------------meanwhile improve the ventilations of the PC/laptop, maybe the CPU & ICs on mb're a bit hot. in my installation of B1 on old "sharp" mebius laptop, it hang in the middle (almost similar to your case...) then I press power button to abort, when rebooting install with grub again, turning on an electrical fan(for summer usage) in front of laptop,then all went smoothly for whole installation

This looks to be a wonderful release. Thanks to all devs for the hard work and long hours that have gone into making this a fresh and current release. Nothing major to report here but I'll throw in a few things I always like to have from the get-go. These are ALL just personal preferences - none of which are major issues - and all can be resolved easily by the user or from gslapt. I just figured I'd mention them in case they were meant to be there but were overlooked.

1) Opera 10 has flash 9 installed by default. Having the latest flash 10 would be better, IMO. I've posted a method that works to have the latest flash with the latest opera and it works in this Beta as well. I've found that copying the files or symlinks work equally well.

2) It would be nice to have our VL-specific tools (VasmCC, Gslapt, etc) located in the 'Favorites' by default.

3) Gambas2 is installed but does not show in the KDE menu

4) My personal opinion is that the KDE menu 'V' logo is too subtle, especially when compared to the brightly colored devices, pidgin, and firefox logos next to it.

5) There is no file browser option located in the (for lack of a better term) 'quick launch' area of the panel. I always like to have one there - dolphin maybe.

6) I liked the 'Browser' option that, upon first use, asked the user which internet browser they wanted to use as their default browser. I recall seeing it in the alphas but it has disappeared in this beta.

7) A lightweight, graphical plaintext editor is always handy to have around. Something as simple as mousepad or with additional functionality like geany. I know there's always nano but a graphical application is nice for some.

This particular issue is strange, and I cannot figure out why. I'll need to test this a bit more.--For whatever reason, I cannot get VMware to install B1. It can boot from the CD (i.e. ISO mounted as cdrom). Installer starts up just fine, but the installer cannot find the installation source (cdrom) drive. It's a virtual IDE cdrom drive according to VMware, but no hdX devices are listed in /dev when the desktop and installer load. Up until about the latest Alpha I never had problems with VMware finding the installation source. Anyone else having this issue?

I'll keep playing and see if I can come up with anything else. Again, these are all just things that _I_ like to have from the get-go; others may not.

EDIT:I almost forgot: I hope that this release does not go final without our classic text installer. There are bound to be folks that cannot install via the gui installer and we need to have an alternative for them. My recollection is that the final release is meant to have the classic ncurses installer, and I hope that's still the plan.

The classic ncurses text installer is not complete and does not function yet. At the present time, the only way of installing this beta is via the GUI installer.

The gray screen is actually the JWM desktop and you can find a menu in the lower left of the sceen by moving your mouse there.

At the 'boot:' prompt you can try the 'gui 2' option which should drop you at the shell just prior to X starting. Login as root with no password. If you're system(s) have an nvidia graphics card then the 'nv' driver may be being used automatically, in which case you could try changing xorg.conf to 'vesa' and see if you have any better luck. I'm sure you know how to adjust the xorg settings but if not then someone can certainly help. It's likely that there are a few xorg.conf files that you can try swaping out until you find a suitable option. I had a particular graphics card that did not function with vesa so I was able to use the fbdev driver to install the system (granted it wasn't pretty at 800x600) but it worked. After adjusting your Xorg driver, you would startx. Then, from a terminal in JWM, execute the installer (gbr2 /root/speedy/vinstall-ng.gambas).

Hope this is somewhat useful and helps you to get the system installed.

newt,I don't get anywhere near an installation of a video driver. In fact, it doesn't install at all. If the text installer isn't working, I'm out of luck because I get a black screen with Not Optimum ModeRecommended Mode: 1280x1024 60 Hzbefore the actual installation starts. No desktops are loaded, nothing has been installed. I didn't get as far as selecting where to install SOHO. The graphical installer never really starts.

The gray screen isn't the JWM desktop because *nothing* was installed. I've seen JWM; I'd know. I guess I didn't make clear that I can't even get into the actual installation. Is there a way around Not Optimum Mode? I sure hope the GUI installer is set to run at 60 Hz because that's what most LCDs use.

vincent2,Thanks for your advice. I don't do grub. I've never been able to understand it, despite my efforts, and will not use something I don't understand.

The computer is not running hot at all. Also, I get the same problem on another computer, which is newer and also not running hot. Surely someone else must be using an LCD monitor at higher resolution than 1024x768. What do you do about a Not Optimum Mode message? If I can't get past that, I'll never be able to install the beta.

I'm sorry to hear that the text installer is not functioning yet. That explains why I couldn't use vinstall-iso. I hope it will be fixed in the next beta.--GrannyGeek

knemo still is not working. Old version still in repos, even after reloading package data. Same problem as in SOHO Alpha 1. There is a version of knemo out there that functions in KDE4. I have seen it in PCLinuxOS and Sidux.

Not the biggest issue, but Knemo is one of my favorite monitoring tools, and I would like to be able to use it in SOHO 6.

On other notes, installation proceeded flawlessly using GUI Installer. Still testing; will post any further pertinent results if applicable.

I never encounter such text on quality LCDs, (on eizo nano LCD even out of range it still display ) "Not Optimum Mode" 's most likely means the problem of ur LCD as out of range of displaying capabalities, you should check with LCD manual, reset LCD from control panel on LCD, if still can't get rid of" Not Optimum Mode", ring the manufacturer of LCD and ask for firmware updating , best bet should be replacing the whole control panel PCB..I speculate it's another cina made flawed crap again as lots of LCD in norther america market were actually OEM manufactured in chinc land...

newt,I don't get anywhere near an installation of a video driver. In fact, it doesn't install at all. If the text installer isn't working, I'm out of luck because I get a black screen with Not Optimum ModeRecommended Mode: 1280x1024 60 Hzbefore the actual installation starts. No desktops are loaded, nothing has been installed. I didn't get as far as selecting where to install SOHO. The graphical installer never really starts.

The gray screen isn't the JWM desktop because *nothing* was installed. I've seen JWM; I'd know. I guess I didn't make clear that I can't even get into the actual installation. Is there a way around Not Optimum Mode? I sure hope the GUI installer is set to run at 60 Hz because that's what most LCDs use.

I hope there is some way I can get SOHO beta installed.--GrannyGeek

Sorry, I must have misunderstood your initial post.

Here's a quick synopsis (from memory) of what I generally see: After intial boot of CD, I get the 'boot:' option. I click Enter and shortly thereafter the VectorLinux Loading Installer splash screen appears for many seconds. After that, a monitor resolution option screen comes up asking what resolution to use. After picking one I see the usual 'testing X configuration' message, followed shortly by several terminal lines - the last being something like 'logging in as root'. At this point, the screen flickers and up pops the installer. If one were to Quit the installer they would be left with what looks to be a completely gray screen with mouse pointer - this screen is JWM and the auto-hide menu is in the lower left.

However, like I posted earlier, you can try the 'gui 2' boot option which will keep X from starting and allow you to manually try to manipulate your xorg.conf to get a driver/frequency that works for you system. Or, like Uel suggests, try the 'gui vga=794' boot option and see if it performs any better.